|  | 3.4 | Benefits of VLANs
| 3.4.4 | How VLANs can save money

Over the past several years, network administrators have installed a significant number of hubs. Many of these devices are being replaced with newer switching technologies. Because network applications require more dedicated bandwidth and performance directly to the desktop, these hubs still perform useful functions in many existing installations. Network managers save money by connecting existing hubs to switches. Each hub segment connected to a switch port can be assigned to only one VLAN. Stations that share a hub segment are all assigned to the same VLAN group. If an individual station needs to be reassigned to another VLAN, the station must be relocated to the corresponding hub. The interconnected switch fabric handles the communication between the switching ports and automatically determines the appropriate receiving segments. The more the shared hub can be broken into smaller groups, the greater the microsegmentation and the greater the VLAN flexibility for assigning individual users to VLAN groups. By connecting hubs to switches, you can configure hubs as part of the VLAN architecture. You can also share traffic and network resources directly attached to switching ports with VLAN designations.
| Lab Activity
| In this lab you will learn to display information about current Switch Firmware, learn about switch memory and update options, and how to use a TFTP Server to update a switch to a new version of the Firmware software.

| Lab Activity
| In this lab you will work with Ethernet Virtual Local Area Networks or VLANs. VLANs can be used to separate groups of users based on function rather than physical location. Normally all of the ports on a switch are in the same default VLAN 1. This lab introduces multi-switch VLANs using trunking.

| Web Links
| VLAN Benefits